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March 03, 2005
Birth Prep Class #1
Tuesday night we had our first Comprehensive Birth Prep class. We'll be having one every Tuesday throughout March. At 3 hours a go, that's a good 15 hours worth of information and such. Then in April, as part of the package we signed up for, we'll have one 3 hour class for Breastfeeding, and one 3 hour class for Newborn Care.
We got lucky, and our insurance company is actually covering about 3/4 of the cost of the class, which is most excellent. It's definitely worth checking your state legislation for this as well, as NY state legislation mandates that coverage of 'maternity care' includes education on parenting/breast- or bottlefeeding/etc. so had our insurance company not already told us they were covering a sum, we could have used that piece of legislation on them.
There were 11 couples total at our class. And I think PreZ and I are the youngest couple there. Not that others are that much older than we are, but many look to be at least in the early-mid thirties range. We're also the least pregnant in our class too. When looking at the class info, it said to make sure that classes ended before you hit the 6 weeks until your due date marker. With the GothNet meet in May which will have us in Las Vegas for a week, we decided against doing a class then. So March for the weekly classes that last all month, and April for the other 2 classes. Most of the couples in our class are due mid to late April. Two couples are due in early May, and we're the only ones due anytime after that (July). So everyone also already has this substantial belly, and I'm still carrying little more than a pooch. And I guess I was the only one paying attention to that part about having classes end at least 6 weeks before your due date...
At least we're not the only couple having a homebirth, or a waterbirth. There's one other couple who's doing both as well. There's a couple of birthing center ones, but mostly it's hospital births.
Our birth educator, Bonu, is a labour support doula, has a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in nutrition. She wrote her thesis on the use of herbs during pregnancy and labour. And she's also a mother. So pretty good qualifications.
The first class she went through basic biology, including pointing out the various basic organs (I'm really hoping this wasn't a surprise for most people). She pointed out the various things that will change during late pregnancy, and also went through the various changes and mechanics of labour and birth. Explanations about dialation, effacement and those kinds of things, the various stages of labour, differences in labour and the time it can take.
Being a nutritionist she also covered the importance of food and eating and drinking well. She explained how much protein, calcium and iron we're supposed to be getting in our daily intakes, and the importance of staying hydrated. Especially seeing as dehydration is the leading cause of late term miscarriage. Not being hydrated enough can skew the hormone levels in your blood, and with the skewed/higher concentrations of certain hormones, your body may set various processes in motion that are not due for a while yet. She also pointed out that you don't prepare for a marathon by eating junkfood either, so definitely pay attention to healthy nutrition.
One of the more interesting things in the class was the small drama segment we got, where she re-enacted how a woman would behave during early labour, active labour and transition. Complete with swaying, being on the floor on all fours, moaning and dialogue (at least for the stages of labour you'd actually be mostly capable of dialogue). And she'd do this for quite a while. A bit odd at first to have a woman in the middle of the room moaning and groaning, but it makes sense to actually see what a common response during a particular stage in labour would be like. Seeing it is better than reading it and trying to come up with an idea of it in your mind.
I'm glad that not much of what she told us during this class was a complete mystery to us, though I'm definitely a bit shocked at how quite a bit of this seemed like news to women who are due in a couple of weeks. There was also one woman's husband who was furiously penning notes throughout the entire class, and while there's no problem with that, or asking the myriad questions he did (though most of the questions had answers that I already knew), but he just struck me as one of those people who'd be more hindrance than help during labour and birth. I'm so glad PreZ is more common sense and calmer than that guy seems to be. As much as I know the whole thing will be stressful on PreZ, I also know I can count on him to be there and not freak out and stand there like a deer caught in the headlights, which was the vibe I got from this man. It also did tie back to the fact that we were both a bit surprised at how little research various couples, who are at minimum 2 months ahead of us in gestation, had done.
Next week we apparantly get to see graphic birthing videos. This will be interesting. Two of the other classes will focus on various pain coping techniques. The class doesn't adhere to any particular school of thought (Lamaze/Bradley) so they'll be giving us a whole range of different things, so that we can use whatever feels right for us. One of the classes will deal with epidural and medical interference procedures.
She also gave us a stack of copies. Parts of various books and articles mostly relating to labour/birth, pain coping, epidural and its risks. I noticed that quite a few of the copies were from books or articles by authors that had come highly recommended to me on various LJ communities (Henci Goer, Penny Simkin). So also a nice way of seeing whether the author is someone whose book I want to invest in.
Posted on 04:10 PM to: Pregnancy